The Voice in the Grain
is a collection of six original compositions by Bob Evans alongside six of his distinctive arrangements of works by Lennon and McCartney, Vince Guraldi, Henry Mancini, Joe Carpenter and Mike Nelson.

Readers of Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine will recognize
The Slippery Slope
and
Dune
as having been featured transcriptions in that publication a couple of years ago.

“Bob effuses the melodic spirit of Chet Atkins and the fiery verve of Tommy Emmanuel with his own sense of humour here. Never self indulgent, each track is quick to the richly spirited and melodic chase.”

Penguin Eggs – Fall 2004 – Dave McDonald

"Evans’ choice of material shows both a sense of humor and his love of a challenge; … These arrangements raise the bar for steel-string fingerpickers in terms of technique and selecting material."

Caffeinated Coffee
was originally conceived of simply as a demo to send out to folk clubs in search of engagements. Since then the award-winning recording has received praise from guitar aficiandos around the world.

The album features 7 original compositions by Bob Evans, along with his arrangements of tunes by Lennon and McCartney, Ray Bell and Joel Fafard, and his cover of two fingerstyle guitar classics: Leo Kottke’s Bean Time and Tom Rush’s Rockport Sunday.

"Evans has a strong sense of melody in his playing, and he can sketch a story with a tune, . . . This is a well-crafted solo guitar release that leaves you wanting to hear more"

Dirty Linen June/July 2000

"… a veritable blooming, a wellspring of artistry and riveting fingerstyle conceptions."

Listen

Transcription available

I love the melody to this traditional song. This is my arrangement inspired by Martin Carthy’s classic rendition. There is a more common version of this tune which is somewhat prettier and more melancholy. But I’ve always felt Carthy’s more aggressive musical reading of it, especially given the nature of the confrontation, seems more appropriate.

Transcription available

Over the years I’ve spent hundreds of hours learning guitar pieces written by other people. So it’s been somewhat humbling to have so many people learn this particular piece of mine. To set the mood, imagine lying looking up at the stars on a a hot, humid night.